Page 90 of Cruel King
Her green eyes get as big as saucers. “Enough with the minutiae! Get to the good stuff. Where did it happen? Was he good? Oh, my God! I remember Maia talking about Marius. Is Matthias big too?”
My cheeks heat up from a blush as I think back to our time together. “Yes, he’s good. And yes, he’s big. I went up to the main house because I didn’t have any electricity, and he was there. All his brothers had come into the city with my father and Mr. King, so it was just us and Eleanor. Jonesy was there too. He was the gardener.”
“Unless you’re about to tell me he joined in, I don’t give a damn about the gardener. So you and Matthias just hooked up? I can’t believe it! What’s he like? He was so far ahead of us in school I don’t think I know a thing about him. Well, other than he’s hot and a billionaire. Oh, and he’s hung like a horse, assuming what you said means the same as what Maia used to say about Marius.”
I think for a moment about how I want to describe Matthias, and after the waiter drops off our glasses of wine, I say, “He’s intense. Yeah, that’s the best way to describe him. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who feels things like he does. He’s also an artist. I had no idea until that day, but he showed me some of his drawings. They’re really good. He drew me.”
For a second, I stop and then add, “Nude.”
Eden nearly spits out her mouthful of wine at that little piece of information. “He drew you nude? Oh, my God! Maybe Theo has a good reason for breaking up with you. I mean, his brother must have been pretty incredible to get you to pose nude for him.”
“Theo doesn’t know that. He just knows we were together,” I say quietly.
“Who told him?”
“Matthias.”
A smile lifts the corners of Eden’s perfect mouth. “So he sees you with his brother for the past few months and then tells him about your little tryst five years ago? Sounds like Matthias wants things to start up again between you two.”
Shaking my head, I think about the few times he and I have spoken since that fateful day. “I don’t think so. I live right there on the estate, and he barely speaks to me when he sees me. If he’s interested in me, he has a funny way of showing it.”
As I say that, I think about all that time he spent acting like he hated me when he actually wanted to be with me. Is it possible Matthias does want us to start over?
“I bet he does, but since you’re moping around like some sad sack over his brother, that’s not exactly giving him the green light.”
“I think he feels guilty that he broke Theo and me up and chased his brother away.”
God, this conversation might require more than a single glass of wine.
“You want to know what I think?” Eden says with a big smile. “I think Theo is an ass, and I say you go back to your house, get dressed up in something gorgeous, and march up to that main house and show Matthias what he’s missing.”
She says that with such strength, but I don’t have much of that lately. I don’t even know if Matthias and I would work together, and if we made a mess of things this time, I might end up homeless.
I shake my head at her suggestion. “No. Things are just as they’re supposed to be. He and I are acquaintances, just like we always should have been. I just hope he and Theo can make amends someday. Then maybe we can all be friends.”
Eden tilts her glass back to swallow the last bit of her wine. “Fine, but something tells me things aren’t over with you and Matthias King, no matter what you think.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX
Matthias
Every day,I see her out my office window, and each time she takes my breath away with how beautiful she is. It’s been a month since she asked me if I would mind if she stayed in the carriage house when her father moved away. It took everything in my power not to tell her how it’s going to break my heart when she finally goes. She’s the only thing that makes living in this house bearable, even though I rarely talk to her anymore and only get to see her from a distance.
This is my punishment for what I’ve done. She’s so close, but I never let myself speak to her. I don’t deserve it anyway, and there’s a very good chance if we did speak again, she’d tell me to go fuck myself after all the heartache I caused her.
I have that and so much more coming that I’m surprised she hasn’t said anything to me yet. Whatever she does isn’t half of what she ought to do to me. Ava’s too kind to exact the kind of revenge I deserve.
So I do it to myself by letting myself see her but nothing else.
This morning, instead of dealing with whatever problems cropped up overnight for King Industries, I watch out the window as she talks to that groundskeeper. Dressed in white shorts and a red T-shirt, she looks like she’s gotten some sun recently. Her legs are tan, and as I let my gaze drift down to her ankles, I can’t help but remember the two of us complimenting one another on having nice legs.
She seems to get more beautiful with every passing day. I can’t imagine what’s going through my brother’s head to leave her for all this time. If I knew she loved me, there wouldn’t be a creature or machine powerful enough to keep me away from her. Theo’s being stupid, but he refuses to respond to my calls and texts, so I can’t tell him what he’s missing. He should know. That he doesn’t makes me wonder about him.
Is his pride worth so much more to him than her love? If so, then he’s beyond help.
As I stare out the window at her laughing with the groundskeeper, I wonder what they’re talking about. He looks genuinely happy to be with her, but that’s not surprising. Ava has a way of making even the most mundane things seem special when she’s a part of them.
“I’m guessing this is the hardly working part of that saying?”